Philip Tsiaras

“Nothing can replace the artist’s imagination”

The famous Greek-American artist talks about his “Portraits” series, the Superdots technique, and his special relationship with the culinary arts.

Interview with Philip Tsiaras on the occasion of the exhibition “Portraits” at the 47Circles gallery in Kolonaki

Pleasant and very open, warm and particularly sociable, Philip Tsiaras guides me through his new exhibition entitled “Portraits”, hosted by the 47Circles gallery in Athens. A series of approximately 40 portraits of Greek and foreign celebrities, such as Aristotle Onassis, Maria Callas, Nana Mouskouri, Elvis Presley and many others, which introduce us to the characteristic Superdot technique – a point of reference for Tsiaras in recent years. The highlight of the exhibition and the cover of ATHENS VOICE is the portrait of Giannis Antetokounmpo, which was created for charitable purposes, as the proceeds from its sale to the Kaizen Foundation will be allocated to support the “Floga Foundation” charity specifically for children with cancer. 

We discuss how the “Portraits” series began, what his next plans are in Greece, America, or other parts of the world, and he confides in me about his special relationship with the culinary arts.

The “Portraits” exhibition hosts approximately 40 works created by Philip Tsiaras over the past 6 years, from 2019 onwards. The newest work – completed in 2025 – is the portrait of Giannis Antetokounmpo, while the oldest is that of Mikis Theodorakis (2014). To create the portrait of Antetokounmpo, which was sold immediately after the exhibition opened, the artist collaborated for the first time on a project with a photographer, in this case Nick Zick. “Antetokounmpo was kind and sweet to all of us and at the same time quite formal.”

In the exhibition in Athens, in addition to the portraits, there are also several glass sculptures that Tsiaras created in Murano, in dialogue with his other works, including furniture design.

The last two rooms are dedicated to ancient Greece. In the first, we have a series of works on the theme of Alexander the Great, in various colors, sizes and dynamics, while in the last room, departing from the Superdot technique, a study by the artist on the Parthenon is presented, in multifarious versions.  These works – together with his sculptures – introduce us to the artistic universe of Philip Tsiaras.

The idea for the Superdot, intensely dotted portraits officially began six years ago, in 2019. “Every artist is constantly evolving their techniques, and I decided to return to photography – where I started my career – but in a different way, marrying it with painting.” And in a unique way, that only he uses. “When I started making the ‘Portraits,’ I focused on the worst and darkest personalities, dictators, whose actions are associated with wars, the super killers, don’t ask me why.”

The first work in the series was Stalin, while a little later he also made Mao. In these portraits, which are included in the “Superdot” book edition, the absence of light and shadow is characteristic. Continuing with these dark personalities, Tsiaras arrived at Adolf Hitler. It was a portrait that he did not even want to complete. Then he made a key decision: to turn this technique to other personalities, more lovable humans, from the artistic world, social life and history. Thus, we will see musicians, actors, painters, from Dali and Picasso to Elvis Presley, George Michael, Prince and Luciano Pavarotti.

A 200-page hard bound book entitled “Superdot” published by Key Books accompanies the exhibition.

Among the portraits in the exhibition is that of the gallery owner, Vassilis Siafarikas, in the iconic David Bowie making the “Shh” sound. This work obviously “conversates” with that of Bowie, which is exhibited in the opposite wall. 

However, both Vassilis Siafarikas and Giannis Antetokounmpo are among the few portraits in his collection of people who are still alive, as Tsiaras prefers to deal with personalities and legends who have already died. “Living people are just too vain to deal with, as you can imagine.”

An early work in this technique – which differs considerably from the others – is the portrait of Mikis Theodorakis. The work dominates the entrance to the gallery, as it is the first thing the visitor sees upon entering the exhibition. As the artist told me, the composer had seen and approved it, and it had even been exhibited at the Megaro Concert Hall during Mikis’ last concert.

The Superdot technique is clearly influenced by the 19th century pointillism movement. Only Tsiaras uses it in his own way. He intervenes in old iconic photographs of famous personalities and transforms them into painted works of art, while playing with colors, light and depth. Behind his “dots” lie entire studies and calculations, while together with his collaborators he has created his own library of “dots” – edited by his collaborator Yiannis Psathas – and uses it so that he can distinguish each time which dots are appropriate for each occasion. However, he emphasizes to me that “everything is done by hand”. To complete a painting, it takes at least a week, or weeks of intensive work. Photoshop and especially Artificial Intelligence are tools he does not use and does not wish to get to know. “I believe that nothing can replace the human hand and the imagination of the artist,” he tells me.

This is not the first time that Philippos Tsiaras has created a work for charity. In the recent past, he created the portrait of Grace Kelly in various versions, which was exhibited in Monaco, in the presence of Prince Albert, his old university classmate, although in different years. “When I wrote to him that I would create the portrait of his mother, he was thrilled invited me to the Palace and, in fact, chose the work that would be donated again to support children with health problems. I had created 3-4 portraits of her and he seemed to prefer the one with a lavender background.” I asked him to sign the back of the portrait, which he did happily.”

Philip Tsiaras was born in America to immigrant parents and has lived there his entire life, but has always maintained strong ties to our country. The longest period he has spent in Greece was in 1977, as part of a Thomas Watson Fellowship. At that time, he was involved in photography, which is always present in his work. At the same time, he had undertaken translations of poems by great Greek poets, Ritsos, Cavafy, and Karyotakis, who was his favorite, while he also wrote poetry. His own poems have been translated into Greek by Katerina Angelaki-Rook.

Philippos Tsiaras also remembers his collaboration with the great Greek-American artist Lucas Samaras, who passed away about a year ago. He was a mentor, friend, collaborator and source of inspiration for the then young Tsiaras. “For me, he was the greatest artist of the diaspora. But there was no more difficult person. However, I learned many things from him. He was a great example for me. He was very dedicated to his work and lived an ascetic life. On the other hand, he was not particularly sociable and, since I was naturally more extroverted, I often took on the responsibilities of communicating with people, because he did not want to. This helped me initially, because I met many important artists and gallerist’s of the time at a young age”. 

We talk about friends, art, America, Greece, the past and his future plans and he reveals to me his other great love: cooking. Because Philip Tsiaras, in addition to being an artist, is also an amazing cook. Cooking, after all, requires art, experimentation, and mastery, as he says. As a VIP chef, he has occasionally made guest appearances on TV cooking shows, which you can watch on his personal website.

“My first experiences with the idea of making food was by watching my mother make traditional Greek recipes. But I always put my own… artistic touches on the dishes. Food for me is a type of art. What is it that makes a dish special? You need technique and fantasy to make something delicious. On the other hand, what is painting? It is finding ways to create something hopefully profound, exciting and deliciously beautiful. For me there are great similarities. Only food, because it is something organic, is consumed and ceases to exist. While art remains forever. 

Unfortunately, my trip to Greece is also coming to an end! I need now to return to NYC and begin preparations for a major retrospective exhibition that will be presented in early Spring (March 20th) at the Goodman Gallery in London.”

INFO “Portraits”, 47Circles Gallery, until January 30, 2026

Read the original interview in Athens Voice.